Hulking Luke Schreiner, 49, was convicted of misdemeanor attempted assault and harassment raps for the traffic dispute in Gerritsen Beach on Nov. 13, 2013 – but exonerated on the more serious felony charge of attempted assault as a hate crime.

“The court finds that the defendant’s remarks and racist diatribe were reprehensible, despicable, disgusting, and demeaning,” said Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge John Ingram, who ruled over the non-jury trial.
“The fact that the defendant used racially-charged and despicable language after the incident is not enough [to convict him of a hate crime.]”

For a defendant to be guilty of a hate crime they must have targeted their victim because of their race or other protected characteristic, the judge noted.

“The defendant was upset and he struck [the mailman] because he believed the postal truck grazed his vehicle,” the judge said.

Schreiner showed no expression at the verdict, then donned dark sunglasses for his walk past news photographers.

He was suspended for 30 days when he was arrested last year and is currently on light duty because of an injury. An FDNY spokeswoman declined to say whether he would keep his job and said any discipline would be handled internally.

“You’re nothing but a f—–g n—-r! That’s why you work for the Postal Service,” mailman Rene Isidore, 57, testified on Tuesday, recounting the slurs he said Schreiner yelled at him.

“We’re gratified with the court’s decision. It was the appropriate one on the hate crimes,” said defense attorney Robert T. Gallo, adding that Schreiner “hopes to” keep his job.